Karl zu Isenburg-Birstein

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Charles II of Isenburg-Büdingen

Prince Karl zu Isenburg and Büdingen in Birstein , also Prince Karl II. Zu Isenburg-Büdingen (born July 29, 1838 in Birstein , † April 4, 1899 in Schlackenwerth , Bohemia) was the boss of the noble house of Isenburg and Büdingen in Birstein , a landowner and Member of the Prussian mansion and the First Chamber of Parliament of the Estates of the Grand Duchy of Hesse .

family

The prince had been baptized as a prince in the full name of Karl Viktor Amadeus Wolfgang Kasimir Adolf Bodo . He was the son of Prince Viktor zu Isenburg and Büdingen in Birstein (1802-1843) and his wife Maria Crescentia zu Löwenstein-Wertheim-Rosenberg (1813-1878), daughter of Prince Karl Thomas zu Löwenstein-Wertheim-Rosenberg .

Life

After the father's early death, the uncle, Wolfgang Ernst III, Prince of Isenburg and Büdingen in Birstein, took over the prince's guardianship. Although he was baptized Protestant, his mother raised him to be largely Catholic. At the age of 15 the boy wanted to convert to Catholicism, but was prevented from doing so by his guardian, taken away from his mother and sent to the University of Wittenberg . After reaching the age of majority, the prince converted to the Catholic faith in Mainz in 1861 .

In 1865 he married Archduchess Maria Louise (1845–1917), the daughter of Grand Duke Leopold II of Tuscany and his wife Maria Antonia of Naples-Sicily . The bride's half-sister, Auguste Ferdinande of Austria , was the wife of Prince Luitpold of Bavaria , who was regent of his country from 1886. The historian Matthias Stickler puts the connection between the Habsburgs and Karl zu Isenburg in the context of the constant loss of power of the Habsburgs in the German Confederation , which should be compensated for by marriage connections like this one.

After the death of the uncle Wolfgang Ernst III. became Karl zu Isenburg-Birstein in 1866 as Karl II. Prince and landlord, head of the family and member of the Prussian manor house and the 1st Hessian parliamentary chamber.

Together with his brother-in-law (husband of his sister Adelheid), Prince Karl Heinrich zu Löwenstein-Wertheim-Rosenberg , Prince Karl zu Isenburg-Birstein developed into one of the most active activists for the Catholic cause, which he had in parliaments, especially during the Kulturkampf and represented it sustainably through several publications. He was also involved as a speaker at Catholic assemblies and was promoted to President of the “Association for the Protection of German Emigrants” (Raphaelsverein), which took care of Catholic North American emigrants in particular. On November 10, 1880, the prince was elected chairman of the interdenominational social conservative association , which consisted largely of southern German Protestants and was supposed to unite the conservative political forces (see Karl Konstantin von Fechenbach ).

Prince Karl died unexpectedly on a trip in 1899 at Schlackenwerth Castle near Karlsbad .

His son, Prince Franz-Joseph zu Isenburg-Birstein (1869–1939) was head of the German administration in occupied Lithuania from 1915 . His great-granddaughter Sophie Princess von Isenburg (* 1978) is married to the current head of the House of Hohenzollern , Georg Friedrich Prince of Prussia .

Fonts

literature

  • Catholic Germany, represented by its spokesmen. Portraits of outstanding Catholics in collotype with short descriptions of their characters and lives. 2nd series, 1st issue, Leo Woerl Verlag, Würzburg 1878.
  • Manfred Hermanns: Worldwide service to people on the move. Advice and welfare for emigrants from the Raphaels factory 1871–2011. Friedberg 2011, ISBN 978-3-87614-079-7 , pp. 25, 26, 39, 53, 84.
  • David August Rosenthal : Prince Karl zu Isenburg-Birstein. In: ders .: Images of converts from the nineteenth century. Volume 1: Germany , part 3, Manz Verlag, 3rd edition, Regensburg 1901, pp. 431-433.
  • Carl Hessler: Hessian regional studies. Volume 1, Part 2: The former Kurhessen and the hinterland at the end of the 19th century. 1907, p. 706. (excerpt from Google Books).

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ GHdA , Princely Houses, Volume XV, Volume 114 of the complete series, Limburg an der Lahn 1997, p. 273.
  2. ^ Matthias Stickler: Loss of power and persistence. Dimensions of a renewed political history of the ruling dynasties of Europe in the 20th century. In: Hans-Christof Kraus , Thomas Nicklas (ed.): History of politics. Old and new ways. Supplement to the historical journal . Volume 44, Munich 2007, p. 385.
  3. ^ Colman J. Berry: The German Catholic Immigrant. In: Thomas T. McAvoy (Ed.): Roman Catholicism and the American Way of Life. University of Notre Dame Press, Notre Dame 1960, ISBN 0-8369-8167-7 , p. 197.
  4. ^ Hans-Joachim Schoeps : CDU 75 years ago. The socio-political endeavors of Baron Friedrich Carl von Fechenbach (1836–1907). In: Journal of Religious and Intellectual History . 9, 1957, p. 269 f.
  5. ^ David August Rosenthal: Prince Karl zu Isenburg-Birstein. In: ders .: Images of converts from the nineteenth century. Volume 1: Germany. 3. Edition. Part 3, Manz Verlag, Regensburg 1901, p. 433.
  6. ↑ To Prince Franz-Joseph
  7. ^ Biographical website on Sophie Princess von Isenburg
personal data
SURNAME Isenburg-Birstein, Karl zu
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Isenburg-Birstein, Karl Fürst zu; Isenburg-Büdingen, Karl II. Prince to
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German nobleman, landlord and boss of the Isenburg-Birstein family
DATE OF BIRTH July 29, 1838
PLACE OF BIRTH Birstein
DATE OF DEATH April 4, 1899
Place of death Schlackenwerth , Bohemia